Insider Selling: Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) Insider Sells $99,299.85 in Stock

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) insider Jason Phillips sold 195 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $509.23, for a total transaction of $99,299.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $964,481.62. The trade was a 9.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock traded down $2.73 on Tuesday, reaching $503.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 911,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,055,550. The company has a market capitalization of $86.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.67, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $477.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $467.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Moody’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $402.28 and a 52-week high of $546.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The business services provider reported $4.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.25 by ($0.11). Moody’s had a net margin of 35.26% and a return on equity of 84.76%. The company had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Moody’s Corporation will post 16.73 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 25.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $610.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Moody’s from $550.00 to $537.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $470.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price (up from $565.00) on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $552.63.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Moody’s

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter worth about $914,721,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 72.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,081,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $471,963,000 after buying an additional 454,684 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 5,102.9% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 286,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $124,860,000 after acquiring an additional 280,712 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 21,256.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 255,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $115,803,000 after purchasing an additional 253,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 275.2% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 319,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $144,884,000 after buying an additional 234,640 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Company Profile

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data, analytics and risk-management solutions. Through Moody’s Investors Service, the company assigns credit ratings and publishes research on corporate, government and structured-finance debt issuers, helping investors and other market participants evaluate credit risk.

Through Moody’s Analytics, the company provides financial intelligence, economic research, data, software and advisory services. Its offerings support credit analysis, lending, portfolio management, enterprise risk management, compliance and related functions across financial institutions, corporations, governments and other organizations.

Moody’s traces its origins to 1909, when John Moody established the company that introduced published credit ratings for bonds.